H.B. Fuller Announces Divestiture of Flooring Business

Rhea-AI Summary

H.B. Fuller (NYSE: FUL) announced the reorganization of its building and construction segments, including the sale of its Flooring business to Pacific Avenue Capital Partners for $80 million. The company is forming a new Building Adhesive Solutions (BAS) Global Business Unit, combining Insulated Glass, Woodworking, Composite segments with Roofing and Building Envelope and Infrastructure segments. The new BAS unit generated approximately $850 million in net revenue and $130 million in adjusted EBITDA in fiscal year 2024. The Flooring business divestiture will reduce annual revenue by $160 million and adjusted EBITDA by $15 million.

Positive

• Sale of Flooring business generates $80 million in proceeds
• New BAS unit generates substantial revenue of $850 million
• BAS unit delivers strong adjusted EBITDA of $130 million

Negative

• Annual revenue reduction of $160 million from Flooring business divestiture
• Adjusted EBITDA decrease of $15 million from divestiture

Insights

Financial Analyst

The divestiture of H.B. Fuller's Flooring business for $80 million represents a strategic move to optimize the company's portfolio. The sale, which will reduce annual revenue by $160 million and adjusted EBITDA by $15 million, yields a transaction multiple of approximately 5.3x EBITDA. The newly formed Building Adhesive Solutions (BAS) unit, generating $850 million in revenue and $130 million in adjusted EBITDA, demonstrates stronger profitability with a 15.3% EBITDA margin compared to the divested Flooring business's 9.4% margin.

This restructuring aligns with the company's focus on higher-margin segments within the adhesives industry. The consolidation of various building-related segments into BAS creates a more focused entity that can better capitalize on infrastructure and architectural market opportunities. The transaction's timing at the start of fiscal 2025 allows for clean financial reporting and strategic realignment.

Market Research Analyst

The reorganization positions H.B. Fuller strategically in the growing global infrastructure market, particularly in high-demand sectors like energy, utilities and data management. By consolidating complementary segments into the Building Adhesive Solutions unit, the company can better leverage cross-selling opportunities and operational synergies. The divestiture of the lower-margin Flooring business to Pacific Avenue Capital Partners streamlines the portfolio and allows for more focused capital allocation toward higher-growth opportunities.

The $80 billion global adhesives industry presents significant growth potential, especially in specialized infrastructure applications. This strategic realignment should enhance H.B. Fuller's competitive position and ability to capture market share in targeted high-value segments.

Company Realigns Building and Construction Market Segments into Newly Named Global Business Unit

ST. PAUL--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- H.B. Fuller Company (NYSE: FUL), the largest pureplay adhesives company in the world, announced today that it will reorganize the building and construction segments of its portfolio to create a faster growing solutions business with a complementary customer base across the architectural and infrastructure markets. The reorganization includes the sale of the Flooring business as well as combining the company’s Insulated Glass, Woodworking, and Composite segments, currently part of Engineering Adhesives, with its Roofing and Building Envelope and Infrastructure (BE&I) segments to form a newly named Global Business Unit (GBU): Building Adhesive Solutions (BAS), effective with the start of H.B. Fuller’s 2025 fiscal year.

BAS, as combined, generated approximately $850 million in net revenue and approximately $130 million in adjusted EBITDA in fiscal year 2024. BAS features a larger scale GBU designed to capture growth in the burgeoning global infrastructure market, including energy, utilities and data management applications, and capitalize on H.B. Fuller’s existing position in the global architectural market. BAS replaces H.B. Fuller’s existing Construction Adhesives GBU and will be led by Shahbaz (Boz) Malik, Senior Vice President, BAS.

H.B. Fuller also announced today that it has sold its Flooring business to Pacific Avenue Capital Partners, a leading private equity firm based in Los Angeles, Calif.

“This move is consistent with our strategy to drive our portfolio and capital allocation to the highest margin, fastest growing segments of the $80 billion global adhesives industry,” says H.B. Fuller President and CEO Celeste Mastin. “With Pacific Avenue Capital Partners, we have found the right home for our talented Flooring team and brand-recognized products.”

Proceeds from the sale are expected to be $80 million, and the divestiture will result in a reduction in annual revenue of approximately $160 million and adjusted EBITDA of approximately $15 million going forward. The acquisition closed on Dec. 2, 2024, the second day of H.B. Fuller’s 2025 fiscal year. H.B. Fuller was advised in the sale by Harris Williams, a global investment bank specializing in M&A and private capital advisory services.

About H.B. Fuller Company

As the largest pureplay adhesives company in the world, H.B. Fuller’s (NYSE: FUL) innovative, functional coatings, adhesives and sealants enhance the quality, safety and performance of products people use every day. Founded in 1887, with 2023 revenue of $3.5 billion, our mission to Connect What Matters is brought to life by more than 7,500 global team members who collaborate with customers across more than 30 market segments in over 140 countries to develop highly specified solutions that enable customers to bring world-changing innovations to their end markets. Learn more at www.hbfuller.com.

About Pacific Avenue Capital Partners

Pacific Avenue Capital Partners is a Los Angeles-based private equity firm focused on corporate divestitures and other complex situations in the middle market. Pacific Avenue has extensive M&A and operations experience, allowing the firm to navigate complex transactions and unlock value through operational improvement, capital investment, and accelerated growth. Pacific Avenue takes a collaborative approach in partnering with strong management teams to drive lasting and strategic change while assisting businesses in reaching their full potential. Pacific Avenue has more than $1.8 billion Assets Under Management (AUM) as of June 30, 2024.

About Harris Williams

Harris Williams is a global investment bank specializing in M&A and private capital advisory services that helps clients worldwide unlock value in their business and turn ambitious goals into reality. Harris Williams is a subsidiary of the PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC).

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements. Such statements often address expected future business and financial performance, financial condition, and other matters, and often contain words or phrases such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “opportunity,” “outlook,” “plan,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “strategy,” “target,” “will,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” “would” and similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words or phrases. These statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Additional information about these various risks and uncertainties can be found in the “Risk Factors” section of our Form 10-K filings, and any updates to the risk factors in our Form 10-Q and 8-K filings with the SEC, but there may be other risks and uncertainties that we are unable to identify at this time or that we do not currently expect to have a material impact on the business. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We do not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Regulation G

The information presented in this release regarding adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) does not conform to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP) and should not be construed as an alternative to the reported results determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Management has included this non-GAAP information to assist in understanding the operating performance of the company and its operating segments as well as the comparability of results to the results of other companies. The non-GAAP information provided may not be consistent with the methodologies used by other companies.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241202091555/en/

Sarah Neunsinger

Global Communications

sarah.neunsinger@hbfuller.com

+1 651-242-0280

Regulatory/Legal: HBF.Legal@hbfuller.com

Source: H.B. Fuller Company

FAQ

How much did H.B. Fuller (FUL) sell its Flooring business for?

H.B. Fuller sold its Flooring business to Pacific Avenue Capital Partners for $80 million.

What is H.B. Fuller's (FUL) new Building Adhesive Solutions (BAS) unit revenue?

The new BAS unit generated approximately $850 million in net revenue and $130 million in adjusted EBITDA in fiscal year 2024.

How will the Flooring business sale impact H.B. Fuller's (FUL) financials?

The divestiture will reduce H.B. Fuller's annual revenue by approximately $160 million and adjusted EBITDA by approximately $15 million.